Best Friends
by Kagome-Chan4
Summary: Ever wondered what'd happen if Naruto had a best friend when he was younger? This is my take on it. More summary inside. Please Read& Review!
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do own my original character, Yuki, though   
  
Summary: Who is this friend of Naruto's? What's her connection to Gaara? And what's this? Sasuke's falling for her?  
  
Prologue:  
  
"Congradulations, Yuki, you passed"  
  
Iruka-sensei said, smiling proudly, as he presented a forehead protector bearing the leaf village symbol to a young girl who looked no more than 9 years old.  
  
The said girl stared down at her forehead protector, a symbol of her new gennin status. Her crystal cerulean eyes sparkled briefly with unknow emotion.  
  
"I do not want it"  
  
Yuki stated calmly, pressing the forehead protector into the hands of a shocked Iruka-sensei.  
  
"Demo....why Yuki? You are one of the most talented shinobi I've taught in years!"  
  
Iruka-sensei thought back to the final test, a buushin no jutsu as always. Every passing gennin had been able to make at least 2 buushins, but this small-looking girl had made 10 buushins in just one try.  
  
"Why don't you want to pass?" Iruka-sensei asked, puzzled.  
  
"He is the reason why"  
  
Yuki's eyes drifted towards the window, where a lonely blonde boy sat on a crudely made swing, staring at all the other kids with their forehead protector on.  
  
"Naruto-kun was not able to pass this year, and I do not want to be on any other team other than his" Yuki's tone sounded firm and determined.  
  
Iruka-sensei inwardly sighed. Who would have thought that this year's number one rookie would refuse the status of gennin because of a loud and obnoxious blonde boy?! He was aware of their friendship inside the academy, but he hadn't though it would have this kind of effect. He is getting a headache.  
  
"I wish to pass alongside Naruto-kun. My mind has been made up."  
  
"Very well then. You will go back to the academy. Although I must say that it is a waste of talent."  
  
"It doesn't matter."  
  
Quickly forming a set of seals, Yuki disappeared from the test room.  
  
"Naruto-kun"  
  
cerulean blue eyes met crystal cerulean eyes.  
  
Naruto's eyes flashed a bit of pain  
  
"Ano...Yuki-chan, gomen nasai, I failed"  
  
Naruto tried to sound at least semi-cheerful, hiding his pain of failure under chuckles, to lighten the mood of the atmosphere. But his throat was dry, and his voice came out hoarse and bitter.  
  
"Naruto-kun, look closely"  
  
"Eh?"  
  
"See? no forehead protector" Yuki pointed to her forehead  
  
"Eh? But how could you not pass, Yuki-chan?"  
  
"Nevermind that, I am still here with you, and that is all that matters" Yuki smiled sweetly.  
  
Naruto felt his stomach turnover. He had an idea of what happened. And he was glad that he had Yuki with him, his only true friend who won't abandon him no matter what.  
  
"Yuki-chan?"  
  
"Nani?"  
  
"Arigatou"  
  
Yuki patted Naruto's head.  
  
"Naruto-kun?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Do you still remember that promise we made to each other, four years ago?"  
  
Naruto grinned  
  
"How could I not?"  
  
errr...this might be a cliffhanger....haha a bit of clarification, Naruto is 9 years old in the prologue who is this Yuki? you will find out soon in the upcoming chapters  
  
Please Review! 


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do own my original character, Yuki, though   
  
Summary: Who is this friend of Naruto's? What's her connection to Gaara? And what's this? Sasuke's falling for her?  
  
Sorry for not updating sooner, This story will be slightly AU Please vote for your favorite pairings, I will take all into consideration except Naruto/Sasuke. (no good with yaoi, not that I have anything against it)  
  
Read&Review!!!!  
  
-Flashback- 4 years ago  
  
A little blonde boy stood around the corner, his eyesight locked on the small playground not far from him where children of all ages laughed and chased each other. The boy looked no older than five years of age, and yet his cerulean blue eyes held fear unimaginable for a child, the fear of possible rejection.  
  
At long last, the young Naruto moved away from his hideout and approached the merry children.  
  
"Can I play?"  
  
Suddenly, it seemed that time had stood still; all children froze and paused their activities. Then, laughter ensued, but this time, jeering was mixed into the laughter, the haunting laughter that would plague young Naruto's mind for a long time.  
  
"HAHAHAHAHA, you wish to play with us? What are you, stupid? There's no way we'd play with a loser like you. Why, my mama says that I should stay away from you because you are bad luck. I bet your family deserted you because you are a bad child! Go away!"  
  
"S....Stop talking like that! I am not a bad child!" young Naruto stuttered.  
  
"Bad child, bad child, good for nothing brat" The group of children started chanting as a chorus.  
  
"Oh look, the brat's going to cry! Think you can make us feel sorry for u by shedding a few tears?" The kids teased young Naruto mercilessly.  
  
sniff Naruto's eyes watered and he looked down. He was on the verge of tears, but he held large drops of liquid that threatened to fall down his face like a glacier at bay by sheer will. He would not show his weakness to these people. Inside his young mind, Naruto again pondered why everyone hated him so much. He was sure he did not do anything to anger anyone...  
  
"Stop it! That's very rude!" a sharp voice intervened  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Naruto's mind was perplexed. Was it possible that someone had stood up for him?  
  
He glanced up, toward the source of the sound, and saw...  
  
A little girl, about his age, with her dirty blonde hair tied into twin pigtails, stood in the middle of the street with her hands on her hips, and a scowl on her cute face.  
  
"You've got some nerve, little girl, telling the big kids what to do and all"  
  
"I am not afraid of you! What you are doing here is wrong"  
  
"What we do and how we act is none of your business! I am fairly surprised that your parents did not tell you to avoid the brat like the plague. In fact, I haven't seen you around before. Where are your parents...LITTLE girl?"  
  
"...They are dead...." The girl bit her lips, and her face contorted in pain  
  
"HAHAHAHAHA, I see, orphans stick together then. Count yourself lucky, brat!" the leader of the group of kids smirked at Naruto and turned the disgusted glance toward the little girl before leaving abruptly, the group of kids trailing behind him.  
  
"Let's go, this playground's been infected"  
  
Leaving Naruto and the little girl alone in the playground.  
  
Awkward silence ensued....until...  
  
"Name's Yuki, Mai Yuki, what's yours?"  
  
"Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto"  
  
Yuki stood in front of Naruto and looked closely. She saw a boy with a mass of spiked blonde hair and expressive ocean blue eyes. Wearing a simple outfit consisting of white shirt and shorts, Naruto was about a head taller than Yuki. Yuki decided that she liked this Naruto boy.  
  
"Say, can I call you Naruto-kun?"  
  
"Ummm.......Ummmmm......."  
  
Naruto was confused. He'd never seen this girl before in his life and yet in less than a day she stood up for him and wanted to become his friend. Naruto was overjoyed. Did this mean that he is no longer alone? He's so afraid of being alone, fending off cold stares and adults' whispers walking home to an empty house stacked with ramen by his never there caretaker.  
  
"Can you be my friend?"  
  
"Huh? Naruto-kun? Of course I'll be your friend"  
  
"Forever and ever? Don't leave me alone"  
  
Yuki cocked her head. Her Naruto-kun reminded her of someone already....someone she doesn't want to leave alone....who is that person and why can't she remember his name?  
  
"Sure, I won't leave you. That's a promise"  
  
----End Flashback------  
  
They were both five that year.  
  
Yuki and Naruto quickly became best friends. Yuki and Naruto's circumstances were alike. Naruto had never known his parents. Yuki was found unconscious outside Konoha village by patrolling ANBUs. It was rumored that Yuki was found drenched in blood. When she came to, the only thing she could remember was her first name, Yuki. It was assumed that her parents were dead, probably murdered by bandits on the outskirts of Konoha. Yuki took the last name of the ANBU captain that rescued her, and lived as a ward of the Hokage.  
  
Yuki had made Naruto's life bearable. He no longer cared for the villagers' unexplainable hatred, as long as he had Yuki's friendship. Laughter could often be heard inside Naruto's apartment now, instead of the gloomy silence that used to accompany the place.  
  
Sitting on his swing, Naruto thanked the heavens once again for Yuki.  
  
"Ne ne, did you hear? This year's number one rookie didn't pass!"  
  
"Honto? How could she not pass?"  
  
"I bet it's because of the class clown"  
  
"That idiot is always keeping her back, isn't he? I hear they're best friends"  
  
"Hah, that idiot? He can't even perform a simple henge no jutsu for crying out loud"  
  
"Yuki-san is so good at everything"  
  
"Too bad she doesn't like talking to people other than her 'Naruto-kun' and the teachers"  
  
"I was hoping I could be assigned to Yuki-san's team"  
  
Whispers drifted into Naruto's ears. He was mad. Mad at himself for not passing, and mad at others for twisting his friendship with Yuki.  
  
A hand held him back from jumping up and yelling at the whispering crowd  
  
"Let them think what they want, I don't mind. Really"  
  
"But I do" Naruto pouted.  
  
Yuki giggled at Naruto's childish behavior  
  
"Just wait until next year, I'm sure you'll pass with flying colors along with me"  
  
"I just can't get my chakra levels correct for the different jutsus"  
  
Yuki was silent.  
  
"....Naruto-kun? Can I ask you something?"  
  
"....Yuki-chan? What's wrong?"  
  
"What do you want to be when you grow up?"  
  
"I want the villagers to recognize me....(and I want to marry you)" Naruto added in his heart  
  
"How do you think you're going to do that?"  
  
"I'll be the Hokage. I'll be the most powerful shinobi this village has ever seen."  
  
"I see. Then I'll be the best female shinobi. I'll surpass the legendary Tsunande-sama. I'll help you become Hokage, Naruto-kun. I will"  
  
"It's another promise then"  
  
"Yeah"  
  
Yuki and Naruto could almost envision the far future. But neither of them knew that something will happen in the near future that could test their friendship.  
  
fluffy chapter another cliff hanger please review if you like it so far and remember to vote for pairings the candidates are Gaara/? (anyone except Yuki or yaoi) Sasuke/Sakura or Sasuke/Yuki Naruto/Sakura or Naruto/Yuki or Naruto/Hinata 


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do own my original character, Yuki, though

Summary: Who is this friend of Naruto's? What's her connection to Gaara? And what's this? Sasuke's falling for her?

Sorry for not updating sooner. Thanks for the votes regarding pairings, the primary result is up:

Sasuke/Yuki

Naruto/Sakura

Gaara/Hinata

That seemed to be what a lot of people wants. I've decided I'm not doing a pairing for Gaara, so here's the question, do you want Naruto with Hinata or Sakura?

And a couple more things: should I stick to the storyline in the manga? Do you want Yuki in Team 7? Please provide me with ideas on how to write this fanfic. Thanks

Read& Review!

- Next Day-

Yuki was currently in the Hokage's office, and sat down facing the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama. I believe you've sent for me. What is the state of this matter?"

Yuki was not in a good mood. A jounin had interrupted her training session with Naruto-kun earlier and told her that her presence was requested in the Hokage's office immediately.

Yuki had been training Naruto-kun in several academy jutsus like henge no jutsu and buushin no jutsu in the forest training grounds. She was frustrated, to say the least. For some reason, Naruto kept having difficulties extracting chakra and keeping up a constant output of chakra. She was just going to fine-tune Naruto's chakra control using the tree climbing exercise when that jounin appeared.

The current Hokage, Sarutobi the Third Hokage, took in Yuki's appearance, and mused.

A petite-looking blonde around 4'9", Yuki looked like an ordinary 9 year-old girl from a distance. Yet close up, this girl radiated power from the way she carried herself, tall and proud; her mesmerizing crystal cerulean eyes reflected great intelligence and showed a formidable opponent.

"Yuki-chan, Is it true that you declined the genin status from Iruka-sensei?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama" Yuki replied, frowning a little.

Why is everybody so adamant in convincing me to become a genin? This is so bothersome. I wish I were training or reading another technique scroll. Anything is better than this. This sucks.

"Ay, I was afraid so. You see, Yuki-chan, I do not believe that you can learn anything new in the academy. I am well aware of your friendship with Naruto-kun and your desire to keep by his side, but I cannot allow someone of your talent to be kept behind."

"I insist, Hokage-sama" Yuki said through clenched teeth.

"It will not do you, or Naruto-kun, any good if you are kept behind. You are allowing Naruto-kun to depend too heavily on you, physically and emotionally. He needs to learn to work well with other kids. Has it ever crossed your mind that you can't be by his side forever? Shinobis die, Yuki-chan, it's the way of life."

"Do you think I don't know that, Hokage-sama? I….I just don't know what I can do to help Naruto-kun achieve his full potential." Yuki sighed.

"I have a proposal for you, Yuki-chan."

"What is it, Hokage-sama?"

"You will accept the genin status, and travel the different countries to collect information for me, and in return, I will call you back when Naruto-kun becomes genin and guarantee you a spot in his team. What do you say?"

Yuki was stunned by Hokage-sama's offer. Leave Konohagure? Leave the place she has called home for five years and the one friend she truly cares for? And yet, the opportunities, the secret techniques of other hidden villages, just think of the stuff she may be able to learn!

"What kind of information are you talking about, Hokage-sama?"

"Just basic information, like any changes in customs and keeping an ear out for interesting gossip, this is a C-ranked mission because of its long-term duration. Do you accept, Yuki-chan?"

"I……I accept the mission. Hokage-sama, please promise me that you'll take good care of Naruto-kun while I am gone."

"Of course I will look after Naruto-kun. You have one day to pack your stuff. Report to my office tomorrow afternoon for your traveling documents." Sandaime handed Yuki her forehead protector and said.

"Hai, Hokage-sama. I understand"

How will Naruto take the news? Find out next time!

Please Read and Review!


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